and he westergren chief sponsor around capitol hill with some republicans worried chuck hagel is foreign policy maybe. major world powers weight training response to ease sanctions in return for terror around hold on a second level nuclear talks begin in kazakhstan. and italy reaches an economic and political country's crucial general election if there's no clear winner the population massively rejecting austerity policies. news and lots more twenty four hours a day without me. the pentagon is bracing for change chuck hagel will be sworn in

as the new u.s. defense secretary later on wednesday he's come under fire from fellow republicans for past criticism of the iraq war and the jewish lobby some believing he could also be too soft on iran but president obama firmly believes he's the right man for the job he's going to. chuck hagel was confirmed by the senate fifty eight votes for forty one vote against a narrow vote as you can see but he can find in louisville all that apologizing and repenting behind and he had to do a lot of that to get the job has been working very hard to tailor his views so as to please congress as a senator chuck hagel allowed himself to oppose the surge in iraq or to criticize israel's policies to oppose seeing war with iran as an option but as the president's nominee for the defense secretary position he backtracked on much of what he had said before and did it as as even his supporters noted in a rather clumsy way but in

a way that showed how much he wanted the job and the whole confirmation process including the attack campaign against him including the filibuster ten days ago showed how intolerant the u.s. congress is of alternative thought on foreign policy ten days ago the senators knew quite well that chuck hagel would eventually be confirmed but they chose to block the vote as many say just to make a point president obama certainly knew that chuck hagel confirmation process would not go as smoothly as say john kerry's but he nominated him anyway it looks like president obama too wanted to make a point this is his last term he doesn't have to think about getting reelected and it is a good time for him to make a point by the end of his first term the degree of war mongering in washington has escalated and we should the point where even the president said there's too much war talking going on now mandating chuck hagel could be his way over weaning it down a notch the president's also quite aware of the general war fatigue in the country but the u.s. congress doesn't seem to have that same war fatigue as chuck hagel confirmation

hearing showed quite to the contrary never too tired for war it seems one more thing important to point out here chuck hagel as defense secretary little not be in a position to generate policy is there to fulfill the president's policies probably his main job will be managing the budget the biggest military budget in the world and figuring out where to make cuts but most of the questions senators asked during his confirmation hearing were about policies which is really not going to be in his field of work anyway. a foreign policy expert on how didn't think the republican outcry over hayden's nomination and more to do with p.l.o. and policy what it showed was that the stranger was willing to stick with a girl on there saying if you can judge someone by who's enemies are then i think this was a step back from just sort of confrontational policies that the u.s. has followed over the past ten twelve years the republicans are trying to do two

things one is they were destroying as many roadblocks as they could against obama and it's quite clear the republican party has made a decision that they're going to basically put their bodies on the railroad tracks and and jam up the works as much as possible this was an opportunity to do that but i think also it was a way to try to intimidate both. and the administration around the question of iran and around the question of israel so you know it was it was more public theater but a lot of politics the united states is public theater so i think that was the go. on is mulling over proposals made by six of the world's leading powers in regards to its controversial nuclear program and a second day of high level talks and doesn't stand tehran is expected to respond to an offer of an easing of sanctions in return for the closure of one of its plants.

iran insists its right to peaceful nuclear energy should be recognized by the international community and while many nations including the u.s. are willing to give diplomacy another go israel is running out of patience saying who use force against tehran to stop it from building a bomb over a middle east expert any risk as the main decision makers of iran's nuclear future won't even present during the talks. if we look at the behavior if you look at the offers which were made i understand not the lifting of sanctions but rather having of sanctions i think that the pro israeli roy and the israeli club if i could say in general still has a significant amount of control and leverage on u.s. policy towards iran and five plus one talks and if this trend continues i don't think we could expect much because iran has made it clear that it will not bow down to talks or to pressures with a gun pointed at its head well i cannot rule out the possibility that

a lot on your whole government might actually go ahead with a unilateral strike although although that is extremely risky on all levels including how the american public might react to the scenario of israel dragging america into a confrontation i think the fundamental issue to look at to look at sorry is how bold obama could be in confronting benjamin netanyahu and confronting the pro israeli right in congress and those nuclear talks continue it's saudi arabians who are bearing the brunt of western imposed sanctions like a problem medicine and food shortages thousands of people in daily basis auntie's miniport know alls. in an effort to stop tehran's nuclear program western countries have used an arsenal of crippling economic sanctions over the years in the interim america and its allies may have started a widespread medical crisis for the iranian people hundreds of thousands of iranians with serious illnesses such as cancer diabetes and all three of us can't

reportedly receive lifesaving medicines because of international sanctions due to banking restrictions imposed by u.s. and european governments companies and hospitals in iran say they are unable to purchase pharmaceuticals from abroad now according to reports an estimated twenty three thousand iranians with hiv or aids have had their life saving medication restricted and medicine shortages for splits since specific blood disorders have allegedly resulted in many deaths already i spoke with an iranian american who recently visited iran bringing his grandmother meds for her diabetes and all three of us alex shams told me that the stock of pain relievers he packed was for a hospital the people who are the most vulnerable the people with the most special kind of cancer or illnesses they're the ones who right now are feeling the pinch the hospital that i brought medicine back there was a cancer hospital and they're right now it is admitting that they won't have

tylenol in the short in a very short period of time but they're asking people to hoard tylenol and bring it back. unfortunately that's how they're doing with tylenol i can't even begin to imagine how their stockpiles of cancer medicine are looking right now the latest round of u.s. and european sanctions have caused iran's currency to plummet and oil revenue to slash which in turn has pushed up inflation critics say western countries have unleashed catastrophic economic warfare against ordinary iranian citizens so far producing all harm and no good they have weapons of mass destruction. very very blunt instrument of use against nations sanctions the way that they are being propagated by the usa by europe and indeed to a certain degree by the un against iran really very harmful they don't achieve

their objectives penalizing the old you know the person and i think it is totally unethical and immoral that we have to be very very care about what happens which is why i think a retooling and readjustment of the sanctions in this medical area is critical within a very short time because as this begins to spiral so too then does the black or. many experts warn that if the u.s. continues leaving a path of sanction destruction against iran this circumstance can manifest into a repeat of iraq in the ninety's arena porton i.r.t. new york coming up fewer later this hour danger on russia's roads a true girl is put behind the wheel by her parents speeding on the highway at over one hundred kilometers an hour. the british middle class is shrinking creating an ever widening division between the haves and the have nots.

russia and the u.s. will work together to urge the warring sides in the syrian conflict towards dialogue because according to foreign minister sergei lavrov the newly appointed secretary of state john kerry. has been following the first meeting between the top diplomats but it. russia in the united states incredibly important if there is to be any kind of peaceful solution to the on going crisis in syria that's a snow for two years claiming around seventy thousand lives. for all of saying they . are incredibly important. this will do all we can to set conditions for opening a dialogue between the syrian government and the opposition as soon as possible zealot's we expect the main opposition group to support the idea of the talks and to name a negotiating team that will slowly. was addressing journalists he said that he had assurances from john kerry that when the secretary of state meets with leading

syrian opposition figures in rome on thursday that he would be insisting that there would be immediate talks talks as soon as possible between both sides in the conflict now this is a potentially huge move there has been deadlock really over how to solve the crisis in syria for a long time now with the united states on the opposition saying that assad to step down as president it would now seem that that is missing a softening of not opinion well this hasn't been the best of times for us russian relations one of the other major issues that was touched on was a ban on the adoption of russian children by american families now a three year old boy originally from russia while he was in the k. of an american family he became the latest in a line of russian youngsters to lose their lives while being looked after in the

united states saying that during his meeting with john kerry the secretary of state admitted that there were problems when it came to the care of russian children that had been adopted into the united states families and said that there would be transparency for russia in those situations. while the u.s. remains reluctant to on the syrian rebels washington has been providing the opposition with key political and non-lethal support for the author and historian gerald on that is the rebels will not enter talks with damascus as long as they enjoy such foreign backing in the united states the washington administration believes that mr all a saw is one his way out it reminds me of the last stages of the conflict in libya in two thousand and eleven when the opposition refused to negotiate with mr gadhafi because they thought he was on his way out as washington and the saudis see it

they'll be able to remove mr al assad from power forcible everyone knows that the locomotive behind the opposition is al nusra front which in gauges and terrorist tactics and has no need or no desire for elections since they plan to shoot their way into power obviously washington is rather complacent about the participation in the syrian conflict al bruce rule from so-called al qaida in iraq and their terrorist means including car bombings that killed women children and senior citizens just a few days ago just as they are very complacent about the rise of so-called islamic fundamentalism in north africa as a result of the overthrow of mr gadhafi they either unwittingly or wittingly or pushing those forces into power in damascus.

welcome back to r.t. now italy finds itself in a stalemate after an inconclusive a general election left the country with no clear political leadership voters overwhelmingly rejected austerity policies with more than fifty percent of electorate voting for parties opposed to those measures but some have a look at the exact figures now it starts with the lower house of parliament we can see the majority of seats were won by the center left democratic party by. a sign that he's closely followed by the billionaire tycoon and former prime minister of course. but a skinny political career is experiencing a revival despite ongoing sex scandals and other unexpected development was a massive success of the anti establishment five star movement led by comedian paid

the party managed to gain over twenty five percent of the vote so as you can see him the biggest loser of the day turned out to be the current prime minister mario monti and his civic a choice party is going to only about ten percent a clear snub of his austerity policies well that's a look at the senate where the leaders are reversed with berlusconi managing to snatch three seats more than deciding who are the majority in both houses of parliament is needed to govern which leaves italy and the political deadlock and of course the euro to drop in rattled global markets too raising fears that the stalemate will only worsen the already dire economic situation in the country where professor of economics. none of the parties have a solution to the crisis. italy is in the critical need of a have been reformed to reassure the markets and i don't see it in the program that the center left gave or the the green addressed so the problem is that they're

addressing some parts corruptions and honesty but they're not addressing the economic issues the way they should be there's going to be clear worry of over default what partial default and i would have that's why it's something to my scare the markets because italy has two thousand billion euros in debt and it's a six times bigger than what greece has and their international economy doesn't have the salvage funds to to take care of the problem of this magnitude. was the cost of living increases across britain because so the country's middle class is shrinking promising to widen the division between rich and poor and with austerity measures set to continue millions of people having to accept that i think they once enjoyed is now out of reach of the sarah ferguson story. for

a large part of her life liz hoggard has been tapping away at building a life for herself as a freelance journalist she's been part of britain's middle class clearing credit cards pay their mortgages on time and they thrived during. but then came the bust and with the decline of opportunities that were for so long a middle class perk i didn't get a contract we knew because budgets were being cut and so all those little things you have in place you always live slightly on credit you know you go into interest in anticipation get paid quite soon that got much to low incomes coupled with high living costs staking fears of a shrinking little in britain is backed up in a report by the resolution foundation think tank it looked into what the future holds the ten million adults in the low to middle income households forecast

another decade of hardship well unfortunately it's a bit of a grim prospect prices have risen faster than earning so quite some time now and what that means is that people. simmer about perhaps a little more but they can't buy as much with it a stark example of this is housing a couple of decades ago you've had to save for a couple of years maybe three or four years to get a deposit on a house if you're a low to middle income first time buyer at the moment you're looking at about twenty to say middle class trimmings like foreign holidays meals out and home improvements are on hold for the time being as lives has found out she's having to sell off possessions to pay for essential is like dental treatment. packing up the required. is quite emotional at times and you have a rush of memory and then you think for ten years and probably if there's something really important i can find online has revolutionised but i also think.

these books are. my investment in a way it's really inching exhibition catalogues that i bought back in for not very much money just just a normal price and then of course they become rarer as the years go by and so in some ways my stocks and shares been sitting on my shelves which i hadn't known about you see when you look online and i was something that was going for. so there is a sense of well at least i can pay for my newspaper my root canal surgery doing that . you know you have to not be a snob in something you cannot make times it can be hard to keep up the parents is is why schemes like the one run by this store here in is that approving say popular you bring along your designer clothes need to fix things at the credit which could be reused in the store. but it was a bit of a further structure where the first person. to actually combine the dress exchange element with the charity element and introducing the exchange voucher system rather

than buying stock in. that kind of give and take on them as more and more families look for ways to make their money go further the government's being warned that without shared growth britain risks becoming a country of two halves the rich getting richer and the middle class is increasingly losing out meanwhile lives in a generation like a facing up to the reality that britain's middle class is the next chapter is looking pretty bleak. london there are some other news from around the world this hour a car bombers killed seven people in northern mali the attack in kadar was carried out by the as the most militant the target is believed to have been a military checkpoint manned by group the group was originally allied with when they seize control of northern mali last year later fell out with them before

backing the french that offensive to drive them out. suspended or hot air balloon flights in the area. in one thousand people died in a crash on tuesday tourists from britain france japan hungary and hong kong were among those killed a hot air balloon exploded in mid-air before falling three hundred meters pilot survived that is said to be in a critical condition. on the secrets behind the life and death of shake a virus have always stood up curiosity worldwide and later today our team will give you a unique chance to hear from the commandant his daughter is a taste of what's coming up. first of all you should know my mother she comes from a rural area and village folk in cuba like anywhere else i suppose are very sensitive about their romantic experiences they are very tight lipped about these things and she was brought up in that culture she's always been like that that said

she was overwhelmingly in love with him it was an incredibly beautiful love story and it's one of the things that make me feel so special not because i'm the daughter of a great man now i feel special because i'm the daughter of a man and a woman who is dearly in love with each other and i'm the product of their love that's what makes me special. a recent health scandal in israel is causing outrage among human rights groups it was revealed last month that authorities gave female if european migrants birth control injections often without the knowledge or consent the other warnings of a serious legal backlash is ortiz porus live found out but i'm not up in the uk. when i first arrived at the ground transit camp i got pregnant and i gave birth he told me if you don't take the shot we won't give you a ticket so i took the shot but i didn't know that it would prevent pregnancies i

didn't know. but more and more israeli women were becoming suspicious like goalie who runs a youth center in an ethiopian neighborhood in four years only one child was born here and the alarming statistic in a community where family wealth is countered by the number of children and when the figures show that the birth rate among ethiopian women in israel has dropped by fifty percent and the mothers of the chemical family are hard of all i believe a few of the organizations who were responsible for bringing in the open immigrants to israel decided to administer a contraceptive to them we don't know who gave the instruction but we do know from what we were told that this treatment again and i failed them and it continued in israel where every three months immigrant ethiopian woman received a shot of the controversial depôt provera contraceptive drug but now that we said we wouldn't take the shot they said then you come to me great you won't get assistance or medical care and if so we wouldn't be able to leave so we were scared

we'll know how things worked in a different country although legal the american food and drug administration has warned that the side effects of this drug could be irreversible but you must understand this was not normal contraception we're talking about contraception that has significant medical and mental effects irregular cycles vaginal bleeding osteoporosis alongside mental side effects like depression mood swings wage and more so this is contraception which is not recommended for most women and in fact most women in israel do not use it but two thirds of ethiopian women have been taking it without being informed that they don't have to and now for the first time an israeli official has admitted or thora teeth have been administering a to them in january this year the director general of the health ministry ordered all gynecologists working for a with the health maintenance organizations not to a new any depôt prevail or prescriptions for women originating from ethiopia or for

any other woman for whom there is. concern that they do not fully understand the implications of the treatment critics say it stinks of racism and think. it is wrong that they are don't want poor of children who can see a lot of from the west through an organisation both going to kill all in other company logo and without any given that all their previous. very have been. very proud of that but the legal backlash is beginning and while nervous about coming forward human rights groups are encouraging ethiopian women to sue for damages so far no one's taken responsibility organizations involved in the immigration of ethiopians to israel are all blaming each other the difference is that they offered several different types of contraceptives to ethiopian women and that all of them participated voluntarily in family planning policy r.t. tel aviv. driving on russia's roads coming to taurus the difficult and at times

a treacherous task but imagine if there were children behind the wheel. go to at least one hundred your mother is filming here in. an eight year old driver next car my friend last year would have fainted if she saw this. object will posted on social networks. he didn't miss here is an eight year old girl driving an audi at one hundred kilometers per hour and if the reckless decision to let her do that wasn't enough the audio you can hear the father encouraging her to hit the gas pedal to go faster her parents said they posted the video online to show off going to driving skills their actions were condemned by outraged web users. but up with the route drivers who refused to give him the right of way the bus driver called alexei has developed a very uncompromising response from the car gets in his way you mediately punishes

the offender by running them from behind just a couple of examples of the brutal justice from his dashboard camera despite having already racked up more than one hundred traffic accidents he's amazingly managed to keep his job. or he's just a cup of the strange stories from russia's roads more bizarre incidents visit aunty dot com. also on our web site today a group known as the syrian electronic army has hacked the twitter feed of france's top news agency and filled it with what they're calling on biased content more online. just darth vader in the squad of storm troopers attempt an assault on one of ukraine's ministries as well websites for the motives and pictures. next we take you to russia's opinion see that discover the wonders of the legendary.